Source: CCTV.com

04-05-2007 08:55

Her Royal Highness Maha Chakrin Sirindhorn is a very down-to-earth sort of Princess. She fell in love with China during a visit to country two decades ago, and has been returning repeatedly ever since.

It is the land of China that the Thai princess has fallen so deeply in love with. And for proof, go to Beijing's Capital Museum, where an exhibition of nearly one hundred photos taken by the princess during her many visits to the country are on display.

Delivering her speech in fluent Chinese at the opening ceremony, the princess said that when she decided to study the Chinese language in the early 1980s, she realized that she must go to see the country for herself.

Her first visit was in 1981, followed by over two dozen more down the years. And they were by no means whirlwind trips, shrouded by an entourage or security guards for public appearances. Instead, the princess went to places that her royal counterparts would have left no time for. And her closest companion was her camera, which she took every opportunity to use.

HRH Maha Chakrin Sirindhorn said, "There was a time when my driver had a stomach problem and had to leave the car for some time. So I took the opportunity, got out of the car, and took pictures of farmers working in the fields."

The princess not only looked, she actually saw.

And despite calling herself a "non-professional", her pictures display a sensibility that only a true artist could have found in ordinary everyday life.

Part of the "Two Journeys, One Destination", the exhibition shows the princess's images alongside those of a Chinese photographer travelling in Thailand. Two different countries, but the same shared interest in knowing and recording.

Giving someone a camera does not make them a photographer. But a keen eye and an open mind does.

 

Editor:Liu Fang